I have bad eyes… Did you know that about me? I’ve had glasses since the 4th grade! Yup! They were tinted blue on the top (to mimic eye shadow) and pink on the bottom and they were HUGE. I hated them. I hated them so much I never EVER wore them (unless my mom was watching. SO my eyes got worse, my vision went from bad to wretched fast.
Now I wear contacts, 90% of the time. I like the disposable contacts cause they are so thin! One year (in my first few years on my own) I started SLEEPING in my contacts. Waking up being able to see is AMAZING! AND I wore them longer than you “should”… we all know that 2 week disposable contacts are the same as 2 months… right??? I ended up wearing the SAME PAIR of 2 week disposable contact for an entire year, only taking them out maybe 4 times that entire time. BAD NEWS. I got a severe eye infection, and almost lost my vision. Can I tell you how scary that is?
Our eyes are SO important. My eyes will never be like they were before, they are much more sensitive to light, easily irritated and often bloodshot since that infection. I don’t mess around with my contacts anymore, they come out every night and regularly get thrown away. My family also has a history of cataracts and torn and detached retinas, among a host of other fun issues. My mom and her siblings are always having eye surgeries (Yeah me- what I have to look forward to) So I’m at high risk for major eye issues… and so are my children.
VSP reminds us that:
- Eye exams are important for everyone in your family – from babies to adults, and everyone in between.
- Annual eye exams are important to your overall health. They allow VSP eye doctors to detect early signs of health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, among others.
- As you get ready for your child to go back to school, don’t forget that getting them an annual eye exam can help them learn and experience life to the fullest.
- Parents should take their children to the eye doctor for a comprehensive eye exam starting as young as six months old, then again at three years old, before kindergarten and every year after that.
- In-school screenings do not provide the same level of detection as comprehensive eye exams.
- 80 percent of what we learn is through our eyes, making this an essential for your back-to-school “to do” list.
- Common signs of vision problems include squinting, head tilting, avoiding “close work,” trouble focusing, continuous rubbing of their eyes, headaches, etc.
- 1 in 4 children have an undetected vision condition that can negatively impact learning.
I not only take good care of my eyes now, but my childrens eyes as well. We take our kids in EVERY year for eye exams. Baby Boy went in for the first time this last spring too! Did you know your child should have their first eye exam around 6 months and then start up again at 3? So far only The Reader wears glasses, but I fully expect at least 4 out of the 5 kids to need them!
Visit SeeMuchMore for more information about VSP and vision care benefits. I was selected for this post by the Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
